The Humboldt County's Coroner's office confirmed Sunday that the human remains recovered near Petrolia on Friday night were those of Miller, the Humboldt County native who was the subject of a massive Mattole Valley manhunt last May. Authorities say he gunned down his wife Sandy Miller, 34, and daughters Shelby, 8, and Shasta, 4, in their Shingletown home in Shasta County on May 7, 2013, before fleeing 200 miles to the Humboldt County, where he abandoned his truck and the family dog. A loaded gun and ammunition were found next to the remains, officials said.

"Using dental records the remains have been positively identified as Shane Franklin Miller, age 46 of Shingletown, California," a release from the coroner's office states.

A Humboldt State University anthropologist and Humboldt County Coroner's Office officials began examining the skeletal remains on Monday morning but still needed to run a couple more forensic tests to determine the exact cause of death, Humboldt County Sheriff's Office Lt. Wayne Hanson said this afternoon.

"They're trying to determine a scientific, educated belief of why he died," Hanson said, adding there should be more information released about the cause of death Tuesday. "We don't have to look for him anymore, the manhunt is over, we're glad that portion of the investigation is done."

The scene

According to a Shasta County Sheriff's Office press release, the remains were partially covered in silt from water runoff during rainy conditions and were clothed in a sweatshirt, pants and boots. Beside the remains was a FNH Five-Seven 5.7X28 mm handgun with a loaded magazine and three additional loaded FNH magazines. The blue-tipped polymer ammunition in the magazines was consistent with ammunition located in Shane Miller's truck and at the homicide scene in Shingletown, according to the release.

The remains were recovered by authorities on Friday night after being found on the bank of the Mattole River in Petrolia by a party who asked to remain anonymous, officials said. The Petrolia Volunteer Fire Department was first to the scene and contacted the sheriff's office around 11 p.m.

Humboldt County deputies and members of the Department of Justice were called to process the scene and collect the remains. Humboldt deputies also contacted their Shasta counterparts, as the body's location was within the area where Miller had previously eluded law enforcement.

The manhunt

Shasta County Sheriff's Office deputies had aided Sandy Miller in leaving her home after an April 20, 2013, domestic dispute with her husband. According to the U.S. Marshals Service, Shane Miller located her at a Humboldt County motel later that day and drove her back to Shasta County. Two weeks later, Sandy Miller and her two daughters were found dead after the Shasta County Sheriff's Office responded to a 911 call.

Authorities said a dispatcher heard a female sobbing and several loud banging sounds over the phone. Shasta deputies immediately responded to the location, where they discovered the bodies of the children and Sandy Miller.

Miller made contact with a woman he had a past relationship with in Petrolia the day after his family was found dead, and his truck was later found on Mattole Road. High school friends and others who knew him during his time in Humboldt County told the Times-Standard that he had outdoor survival skills and knew the wilderness area where he was last seen.

A massive manhunt ensued, with dozens of law enforcement officers searching the areas of Petrolia, Shelter Cove, Honeydew and the King Range National Conservation area.

Miller was added to the U.S. Marshals Service's "15 Most Wanted" list last July. His wanted poster described him as "an individual who has no regard for human life" and the only suspect in his family's "cold-blooded murder."

His criminal history included arrests for possession of a firearm, ammunition, cultivation of marijuana, resisting an officer, and hit-and-run causing death or injury. In 2007, Miller was released from federal custody after serving a 46-month sentence for possession of a machine gun and marijuana cultivation.

Last June, officials searched an underground bunker on a property east of Redding that belonged to Miller. Investigators told the Redding Record Searchlight that search teams found the prefabricated bunker, but no sign of Miller. Inside the bunker, deputies found a "large cache of weapons and ammunition," including various types of rifles, shotguns and handguns, the paper reported.

It's a huge relief to the community to know Miller is not out there at large, Petrolia General Store Manager Nichole Stephens said.

"It was definitely always in the back of my mind — where might he be? I was out of town when I got the news through a text message — it's good to know it's over with," Stephens said.